As seating capacity is a concern for consumers, many automotive vehicles come equipped with a third row of passenger seating. However, in order to access the third row seating an occupant needs to first move the second row seating to create an ingress or egress path. Consequently, most modern automotive vehicle utilize a recliner or release mechanism for moving the seat back between a seated position and a stowed position to allow greater access to the third row seating. Further, it is also known to provide seat assemblies which are slidably engaged with the floor of the passenger compartment to lock the seat assembly in a seated position and slide the entire seat assembly towards a cargo position. The sliding mechanism, in conjunction with the pivotal seat back, provides an occupant with easy access to the third row seating.
As there are several handles or levers which operate the various operational components associated with the release mechanism and the sliding mechanism, most modern seat assemblies have become complex. In order to position the seat assembly to allow access to the third row seating, an occupant is required to actuate a number of different handles to operate a number of independent mechanisms. Further, the costs associated with modern seat assemblies have increased due to the increase in the number of parts, and the increase in the labor and manufacturing time required to produce and install the seat assemblies.
Thus, there exists a need for a seat assembly having a horizontally slidable seat assembly and a pivotal seat back which reduces the steps required to position the seat assembly for ingress or egress, and which reduces the overall complexity of the mechanism involved.